OK so now that the tank is down I can see where the leak is. It must be a pin hole leak on one of the metal lines coming from the sender/pump unit. It is spraying fuel every where, including a nice fine mist on the exhaust WOOHOO… Any way, I just got this truck and I don?t know much about it. It was sitting for about 2 years, and while I did get the motor running I noticed the fuel leak right away and shut it down. As such I do not want to spend alot of money on a new sender only to find that the rest of the truck is junk. So my question is what can I do to fix the leak on the cheap??
I am thinking about getting some fuel injection rubber line, slitting it in half and putting some fuel proof RTV sealant inside the line. Then wrapping the metal line with the rubber line, and clamping both ends with hose claps. Do you think this would hold for a while??
I dont mind doing the job right once I have the truck on the road for a bit and know it is OK, I just dont want to spend a few hundred $$$ only to find that the trans is bad or the motor knocks when hot… That kind of thing…
Thanks as always
had a similar problem,cracked fuel line out in the middle of no where, cut the line in two (removing the crack)then put rubber fuel line in between and hose clamped the ends, got me home and then some till I was able to replace it.
The only problem with that is the location of the leak. Unfortunatly cutting the line would be difficult, and would not leave much room for a clamp. That is why I came up with my idea.
No, you should not split the line and use sealer on it.
The best method is to use a tubing cutter at the leak, pry it apart a bit, and slide some FI hose into place, allowing it to go on several inches IMHO. Add a couple of clamps and it should be good for the duration.
Be sure to use FI hose and the higher the quality the better. The last stuff I bought was 6 bucks a foot but it’s pretty much indestructible.
I would also add a tubing cutter is the preferred method. A hacksaw will leave steel particles in the fuel line and next stop will probably be the injectors.
DOOOUGGGHHH, Why did I not think of that?? One cut not two, and clamp… See that is why I ask these questions, becasue somthing so simple and I was blind to it.
THANKS OK
Don’t feel too bad about this. Everyone goes through it including people who do it day in and day out.
The ones who say they’ve never overlooked anything are liars.
There was a guy I worked with at a VW dealer and he was a very, very good mechanic.
He also had a big bushy head of hair.
He was working on an old VW Rabbit that had hydrolocked due to a CIS injection fault. This was not that rare a problem and easily cured.
Keep in mind the transverse 4 cyl. engine with all 4 spark plugs facing up and forward.
He removes the plugs and leaves the plug wires lying on the engine block. He then hits the remote starter switch to turn the engine over and blow the fuel out while forgetting the coil is not disconnected.
So you have 4 cylinders worth of gas being pumped out at high velocity with an accompanying spark. Four flamethrowers in a nutshell!
The resulting flammable burst threw him back against the wall, singed his moustache and burnt the front edge of his hair off, along with charring his face a bit.
He worked beside me and I was not aware of anything unusal until I was bathed in an orange glow and then saw a wall of flame!
(The car was perfectly fine and the tech was also fine; just suffered a minor charbroiling. It was actually pretty funny talking about it later. Thought you might get a chuckle from the actions of a pro.) 
One of these days I’ll 'fess up to a real doozy.
Surprised the hydro-locked engine didn’t suffer a bent rod. Great story…I’m passing it on to a buddy of mine who had a similar experience…luckily he only suffered singed nose hairs.
Just an FYI, Got the line fixed today… THANKS OK
Man that was a smelly job, I still reak of gas…
I was useing gloves, but the gas ate right trugh them… All well, at least the truck is no longer a rolling death trap